Henry h



f-No Model.) f H.'H. BLISS.

CORK EXTRAGTOR.

- Patentd Peb. 27

MQW

UNITED STATES PATENT EErcE.

HENRY II. BLISS, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, ASSIGNOR TO HARRISON S. MARTIN, OF SAME PLACE.

CORK-EXTRACTO R.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 515,646, dated February 2'?, 1894.

Application le. March 10, 1893- Serial No. 465,478. (No model.) I

To tif/ZZ wiz/0m it may con/cern.,` In the .interior chamber of the casing A,

Be it known that I, HENRY H. BLIss, a citithere is placed a screw-carrier B, which is zen of the United States, residing at Vlashadapted to supportthe cork-worm, and the ington, in the District of Columbia, have inoperating screw which rotates it, and also 5 vented certain new and useful Improvements adapted to have applied to it the power which 5 5 in Cork-Extractors, of which the following is effects the vertical movements of the active a specification, reference being had therein to parts. By preference this is accomplished by the accompanying drawings. forming a rack b, upon one side of the screw- Figure l is the vertical section of a device carrier, the teethv of which are adapted to t 1o embodying myimprovements. Fig. 2 is a secthe teeth c, of awheel or segment C, the latter 6o tion on the line --x, Fig. l showing the forbeing mounted upon the above described arm ward portions in rear elevation. Fig. 3 is a or bracket as, and havinga part of its periphside elevation. Figeisa top plan view. Fig. eral portion inserted through the slot as.

5 is a vertical section on the line 'y-(y, Fig. l. When the wheel or segment C is, by means t5 Fig. 6 is a plan view of the neck-clamping of the handle D, moved in one direction or 65 jaws. Fig. 7 shows the gear-rack detached, the other, the rack b, and the screw carrier B 4partly in side elevation, partly in section. will be correspondingly moved.

Fig. 8 shows the nut in plan, and in edge ele- E represents the corkscrew, which is vation. Fig. 9 is a vertical section showing adapted to be moved down toward the cork zo spring wedges, modied with respect to the which is in place in the bottle, and then ro- 7o one in Fig. 5; and Fig. l0 is an edge view of tated so as to enter into the body ot the the same. cork, and then be drawn without rotation up- In the drawings a casing is shown which is, ward a limited distance bringing with it the as a whole, illustrated by A. Preferably it is cork, and inally to be rotated during the up- 2 5 cylindrical in general form, and at the bottom per part of its upward travel in such way as 75 is formed with 0r secured to a base piece a', to draw it out of the cork. It is shown asbe- Which extends backward, and is adapted to be ing formed upon the lower end of a threaded fastened, in the usual Way, toatable, or other rod or screw, but instead of that, it may be holder, as is indicated at a2. made separately, and subsequently secured 3o On the rear side of the vertical parta, of the to the lower end of the screw. The latter is 8o casing there is a slot ai', l'or the insertion of indicated by F. At the upper end it has a the toothed wheel or power device; and, at journal portion f, mounted in a bearing in the bottom portion of the casing there is an the cross piece or upper part b of the screwaperture or slot, a4, to permit the application carrier, and also retaining ears, flanges, nuts,

35 of an expelling spring; and, on the front side or equivalents at f', f2. At the proper place, 85

there is an opening at a5, through which the vertically, there is a cross plate, bar, or diacork can be expelled. By preference there is phragm, B', formed with or secured to the a ring as, at the lower end of the casing and casing A, and having an aperture b2, through integral therewith, it being adapted to have which the screw F can freely pass, but which 4o the upper end of the bottle, or the cork, pressed shall act to some extent to brace and later- 9o against it. The upper end of the casing may ally support it. be left open, or closed by any suitable device, In the Space between the upper end of as at al, and in either case it may be ornascrew-carrier B and the stop bar or plate B mented in any Way, and to any extent, dethere is placed a nut G. It is so constructed 45 sired. and arranged as to be prevented from rotat- 9 5 as is an arm or bracket cast with and exing, and yet can slide to alimited extent vertending backward from the casing for suptically. It is provided with a threaded apen porting the gear wheel or operating inechanture, whereby it can engage with the screw Y ism. Ltg, et, are vertical slots in the sides of F. It has guide-stops g projecting laterally 5o the casing, fora purpose to be described. from it through the slots a9, they being prefroc Y ward with the screw threads of screw F Withf t The intended poeach other, are such that when wheel C and rack frame or carrier B, has been moved down farenough to bring the point of cork-y worm E to the top surface of the cork, the

f nut Gr will be at the bottom of slots of whereupon, a further downward movement of ythe part B will compel the nut G to impart rotation to the screw F and worm E until the latter has perforated the cork; and, further, such that when the movement of parts O and B are reversed the nut G will ymove ybodily upout rotating the latter, such bodily movement of thefnut continuing untily stopsg reachthe upper end of slots a9, or in other words, un-y til the nut has traveled a distance equal to the length of the cork, and the wormE has, consequently, drawn the cork from the mouth of the bottle andfbronght its upper surface into contact with stop bar or plate Bf. And, as a somewhat further upward movement of the rack orcarrier B is. possible (that is after nut G has become stationary), the screwy F will be rotated so as to draw the worm E out of ythe cork. lDuring f the next downward movement of the parts the cork worm will move down without rotation, because of the nut G being able to'slide in the slots a9, butr the rotation of the screw and worm begin imf mediately on ythe point of the worm reaching the top of the cork. f

H represents a spring, preferably formed by bending properly a piece of dat spring steel. It is fastened at 7i, to the casing wall and has the elbow h projecting somewhat through the casing wall, into the path of the cork. When the cork is drawn up by the worm it impinges upon this spring and presses it backward somewhat, or in other words, the spring exerts an outward pressure upon the cork. This pressure is adjusted to be such that at the instant the worm is twisted out of the cork, the latter will be pushed forward by the spring and expelled through the passage at a5. More or less trouble and inconvenience have been experienced when using extractors of some of the sorts heretofore made, because of the liability for the corks to expand to such an extent as to lodge in and choke the throat way or entrance at the bottom of the casing.

In order to grasp the neck of the bottle, and hold it rmly, during the operation of pulling the cork, I employ the following devices. I, I, are jaws shaped to inclose more or less of the mouth of the bottle, and preferably flanged so as to pass under a part of theV flanged portion of the mouth. These jaws are pivoted at i, and are placed below the base plate a', being adapted to swing toward and from each other sufficiently to permit the easy introduction and withdrawal of a bottle neck. Forks, or jaws have been heretofore used or proposed, and situated below the casing for the worin, screw, and nut.

yand cork will be taken by the jaws.

But they have not been fully successfuhone yreasonbeing that there is considerable upward strain exerted by the pulling mechanism at the time the cork is being drawn, and

f muchfof this strain is unavoidably imparted to the jaws, .as it is impossible to so construct their concave parts as to insure that all bottles shall be similarly inclosed and engaged, the outside diameters of some varying from those of others, and if the diameter of that ypart of the'bottle is a little greater than the normal, the entire upward draft of the worm And the base support of thevjaws around the hinge or pivot was so limited, as heretofore con structed, that when the pulling draftis being exerted by they worm and therack, the ljaws are loosened or sprung, and frequently broken. rEven when made with Iianges which interlock with Ilanges on the'base of thecas-y ing, there is trouble from this cause, as it is practically impossible to provide and maintain such a tight fitting of the danges as to entirely overcomeY it. Then, the downward pressurey upon the bottle and cork tends to the same result, as the pivot at z', and the adjacent` eye parts of the jaws must take all the strain. Such downward pressure is practically necessarily incident to the device, because of the liability that the pitch of the worm E will vary from the pitch of the screw F., both at the time of original manufacture, and, subsequently, by reason of the worm being more or less altered in its pitch'when in use. I ob- IOC viate these difficulties by combining with the cork worm and the jaws I, I, abutments which relieve the jaws of vertical strain and displacement in either direction. At I2, I2, there are supporting lugs which may be cast with or secured to the base part a', and the jaws I have backward extending brace arms I', I', which are fitted between the parts a and I2, and the latter act,- to prevent any upward or downward springing of the jaws. The braces I are utilized for another purpose, viz: to effect the movement of the jaws in one or both directions. They are engaged by cam-like device represented by J, and having the part j and the expanded cam portionj, terminating at its upward end in a beveled or dared surface. The rod j is pivoted to a link K, which is, in turn, pivoted to the wheel or segment C, preferably to an arm C on the latter.

There are several ways for making and arranging the partsj,j. In Figs l to 6 the part j is tubular and is titted to the rodj in such way that it can be adjusted thereon by a nut j, and clamped by the screw j2. The brace arms I are preferably recessed at t" to provide a passage for the rod j, and the edges of the recesses are so shaped as to make the aperture elongated and insure that the tapered upper end of the part 7" shall readily pass upward between and force apart the arms I', I. J2 indicates an aperture in the base plate a coinciding with the passage at i. The adj usting devices at 3'2, js permit the part j to IIO be placed where it will cause the jaws to commence moving at exactly the right instant for grasping the bottle.

I am aware of the fact that forks or jaws for grasping the narrow part or recessed parts of the necks of bottles have been heretofore used, and that they have had backwardly eX- tending arms for applying to them their actuating mechanism. But in the earlier constructions referred to the jaws were held by their pivot only, there being no braces or abutments at the rear ends of their lever arms. They were placed above and rested upon the base or support and were used only in connection with devices for pushing down a ball or internal stopper. As above described, the jaws I, I, in my device are of the other class, viz: those whiclh fully inclose the upper edge or end of the bottle neck and are placed `below the base plate, so that use can be made of an upward acting cork worm and which exerts a strong upward draft during from one-third to one-halt of its travel.

Inthe drawings I have shown how some of the details in the earlier construction can be combined with the essential parts of the present device, if desired. Thus in Figs. 9 and 10, the partsj3 consist ot springs secured to the side ot the rod j. In the early mechanisms above referred to the parts were so arranged that it was necessary to have the base plate largely overlap the counter or table to which it was secured, and the latter had to be chambered out, and seriously marred in order to apply it and allow for the movements of the several parts. In the present case the jaws and their levers are so related to the base plate that while theyare at all times concealed from view they are yetaccessible for purposes of-cleaning or repair, and do not require `the cutting out or recessing ofthe counter or table.

What I claim isl. The combination with the cork-worm E, the screw F, the nut G, the slotted easing, the screw-carryin g rack B, arranged substantially as set forth, whereby upward draft can be applied to a cork when the worm is not rotating of the jaws I, I, the brace-arms I', I for the jaws, extending backward from their pivot a holder or abutment for said braces to prevent the springing of the jaws, the wedge engaging withl the brace arms, and the wheel Oconnected both to the rack B and to the wedge substantially as set forth.

2. The combination ot' the casing, the screw, the cork worm, the nut, the toothed rack which carries the screw, the movable jaws I, the

Vwedge or cam for actuating said jaws, the

toothed wheel engaging said rack, and the means for pivotally connecting the wedge or cam to said wheel behind its axis, whereby the wheel lifts the screw and simultaneously depresses the wedge, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination of the casing, the cork worm, the screw, the screw-carrier, the nut, the base plate for the casing, the pivoted jaws placed below the base plate, the brace arms extending backward from the jaws, the Vertically moving cam or wedge, the toothed wheel engaging with the screw-carrier, and means connected to said wheel and to said cam or wedge, whereby the said wheel directly both positively lifts the cork worm and depresses th e wedge substantially as set forth.

4. The combination with the cork-worm, the casing, and the toothed wheel (l, of the toothed screw-carrier, the screw mounted therein, the fixed stop-plate B', and the rising and falling nut situated between the top and the bottom ends of the screw-carrier, and above the fixed stop-plate B', substantially as set forth.

5. The combination of the cork-worm, the screw, the vertically reciprocating screw-carrier, the casing, the nut, the wheel for moving the screw-carrier, the jaws for grasping the upper edge of the bottle neck, said jaws having a common pivot fi, and having arms I extending backward therefrom, which bear upward against the base plate a", and an abutment or holder, as at I2, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY Il. BLISS.

Witnesses:

M. B. MAY, GRAS. W. LA PORTE. 

